Love Hurts
by XxXBrOkEnStArXxX
Summary: There's a new MD at PPTH...will she be the one to finally remove the blockage in House's heart? How will House deal with being betrayed? Especially after he has to make the ultimate diagnosis...his feelings. HouseOFC & ChaseOFC A Dramatic Love Triangle!
1. An Interrupted Flashback

Disclaimer: I don't own HOUSE MD. Or any characters from the show. However, all of the other characters mentioned in this story are original. Some plot lines were derived from previous episodes but everything has my own spin on it…thanks and enjoy!

Love Hurts

Chapter 1 – An Interrupted Flashback

He used his cane to follow the beat of the song that was engulfing his entire office. He shut his eyes and continued to tap his cane to the beat. His legs were crossed awkwardly on top of his desk and that's when he had a flashback.

There he was, pacing back and forth in his office. The time was 3:39 AM and he didn't even care. This latest case was plaguing him, torturing him you could say. Besides being unable to figure out how a woman had died and just recently came back to life as her husband was crying over her lifeless body was beyond House and that is what was so frustrating for him. That and how his Diagnostic Team was falling apart.

About a week ago Dr. Foreman had announced his resignation also stating how he didn't want to end up like Dr. House. After that happened House decided to fire Dr. Chase, another member of his astounding Team. In firing Chase, House thought that Foreman would be happy about it and decide to stay but just like everything else in his life…his plan backfired only making Foreman want to leave sooner and also making Dr. Cameron question all his recent actions.

Right as House was about to grab his bag and call it a night, he looked over at his door and in the moonlit room he could see Dr. Cameron standing there, staring at him with her usual questioning glare. "I'm sorry; I'm not hiring Chase back so you can make out with him in the closet…how High School of you" House stated. Cameron let out a small laugh and walked towards House. He could see she had a white envelope in her hand as their eyes met in an intense gaze. "Better be naked pictures" House said to her. "It's my resignation letter…I've gotten all I can from this job" Cameron said handing House the envelope. House took the envelope from her and threw it down on his desk. "What do you expect me to do? Break down and apologize? Beg Chase to come back?" House asked her. "No, I expect you to do what you always do…I expect you to make a joke and go on…I expect you to be just fine" Cameron said as she placed her hand on his arm. "I'll miss you" She said with a smile and then walked off.

House was brought back to reality by Dr. Cuddy throwing a file down on his lap and unplugging his iPod. "House! What are you doing? Get up and either start on this case with whatever Team you have left or I'll assign you Clinic Duty for the rest of today" Cuddy yelled at him. "Ok Geez…I'll take the case" House said as he flipped through the file. "Did you talk to Chase yet?" Cuddy asked him. "Uh yeah…he said he'll tell the Kangaroos that you said hi" House said as he stood up with his cane. "Foreman is in the clinic right now and you better be nice to him…once Chase comes back you'll have to find a replacement for Cameron…I have some resumes in-" Cuddy was cut off by House leaving his office and slamming his own door behind him.


	2. No Pain

Love Hurts

Chapter 2 – No Pain

On his way down to the clinic House sees Chase walking towards him. As Chase is about to say something to House, House stops him and hands Chase the new case file. "Sorry no one could agree on a theme for your Welcome Back Party…I personally thought the Asian Strippers dancing in Bamboo Cages was a winner but apparently Foreman has something against Asian Strippers…who knew?" House said as he went to walk off but Chase stopped him. "What the hell is this?" Chase asked him waving the file in his face. House sighed deeply as he snatched the file away from Chase and began to read out loud all the necessary information. "Hannah Morganthal, a 17 year old teenager says she cannot feel any pain…has no fever, rashes, bruising, Tox screen came back normal and so did her EKG…she has had broken bones before but has felt no pain once the initial break takes place…" House trailed off as he felt a shooting pain in his leg. "It sounds like Congenital Insensitivity to Pain and Anhidrosis, otherwise known as CIPA" Chase said as he watched House swallow his usual dosage of Vicodin. "No, really? Are you sure about that?" House said to him. Chase just glared at House as he closed the file. "Get a scan of her brain" House said as he walked away from a newly confused Chase.

"Foreman! We have a case" House announced as he barged right into the examining room Dr. Foreman was in with a patient. "House, can it wait? I'm with a patient" Foreman said to him. House rolled his eyes as he shut the door behind him. "She has a cold" House stated nonchalantly as he sat down across the room. Foreman and the patient both glared at House as Foreman continued his examination. "A 17 year old teenage girl has CIPA…otherwise known as-" House was cut off by Foreman. "Congenital Insensitivity to Pain and Anhidrosis" Foreman finished for him. "Right…Chase is taking a look at her brain right now and I want you to take a look at her heart…that is of course after your done diagnosing her amazing cold" House said as he got up and left the room.

"The results of her Cat Scan came back normal" Chase said. "As did the results of her Echocardiogram" Foreman said. House stood there with his back facing Chase and Foreman. He glared at the white board he had written her symptoms down on and he became frustrated. "Just because the tests say its normal doesn't mean its normal…there's something wrong…I can feel it" House said. Chase and Foreman just looked at each other as House continued to speak. "I don't know where you guys went to Medical School but someone who can't feel pain isn't considered normal" House said. "So what are you saying? That she's lying or that you want us to purposely inflict pain on her?" Chase questioned him. "Of course but there will be time for that later…right now is what we need to think about" House said. "You know what I think? I think that the only reason you took this case is so you can explore her disease…you're curious about someone who can't feel pain because you always feel pain" Foreman said standing up. Before House could reply with any kind of sarcastic or witty remark, Chase and Foreman's beepers went off. "She has a fever" Chase said as him and Foreman dashed out of the room, leaving House with a smirk on his lips.

"She had a 103 degree fever and during the Angiogram she broke out in a second degree burn" Chase explained. "I think it's an infection" Foreman said. "Of course you would" House replied. "It can't be an infection…it doesn't explain her sudden paranoia" Chase said. "Diagnosing it as an infection would be taking the easy way out…and could also end up killing her faster" House said as he walked out of his room.

House entered the girls Hospital Room. He sat down on a nearby chair as he studied her. "You can't feel pain…nothing left but pleasure…why don't you tell me how wonderful that is?" House asked her. "It sucks" she replied. "Better than being in pain all the time" House retorted. "Every morning I have to check my eyes to make sure I didn't scratch a cornea in my sleep" she said. "Oh God, stop…I'm in a pool of tears here" House said sarcastically. "I can't cry" she said. "Neither can I" House whined. "Every morning I check my eyes for jaundice…in case the Vicodin's finally shot my liver" he said. "Boys can't hold me for too long because I can overheat" she said. "Girls can't hold me for too long because I only pay for an hour" House replied. "I need an alarm on my watch to remind me to go to the bathroom" she said. "I got shot" House said. "I sat on the stove when I was three…want to see the coil marks?" she asked him. House raised his brow in curiousness and as she was moving in her bed, she stopped and her face got pale white. "I-I-I can't feel my legs" she said. House's eyes widened in surprise as he grabbed a nearby pin and started poking her legs. "You can't feel this pin poking you?" he asked her. "I can't feel anything!!! I can't feel it!!!" she started to scream so much that she managed to fall right out of her bed.


	3. A New Distraction

Love Hurts

Chapter 3 – A New Distraction

"It's a Neurological problem" Foreman said. "She fell out of bed last night and broke both her legs and her pelvic bone" Chase reminded him. "At least she didn't feel it" House interrupted. "Still think it's an infection?" House asked Foreman. Foreman just rolled his eyes at House. "I think it's-" House was cut off by somebody else talking, an unfamiliar yet strangely comforting new voice. "It's a B-12 deficiency…it explains her easy breakages, paranoia, high fever and numbness" this new voice said. Everyone had stopped what they were doing to pay attention to this new entity. "House, Dr's Foreman and Chase…I'd like you to meet the newest member of your team, Dr. Christine Massina, she's an Immunologist originally from The Mayo Clinic, she graduated top in her class and she's from New York" Dr. Cuddy said. "Nice to meet you" Chase said as him and Foreman stood right up in acceptation. "Welcome to Princeton Plainsboro" Foreman said. "Thank you" Christine said walking more into the room. Her eyes met with House's and he didn't look too pleased. "Dr. House…it's a pleasure to finally meet you…I've followed you for a while…you truly are a great asset to this hospital" Christine said. House continued to stare at her. She was gorgeous, average height, tan skin, long straight black hair, big green eyes, a smile as white as Foreman's pupils and House guessed at least D Cup breasts.

House was brought out of his obvious trance by Cuddy. "House? Your new team member is giving you a compliment" she said to him. House just glared at Cuddy and then softened his look at Christine. "Excuse us for a moment" House said as he grabbed Cuddy's arm and led her outside of his office. "You can't possibly tell me that you're upset" Cuddy said to him. "Upset? How could I be upset? An irresistibly sexy Italiana is exactly what I had in mind for a new team member…I mean Chase and Foreman rarely get distracted" House said. Cuddy's jaw dropped in shock. "House, you can't be serious! Besides being…beautiful…she's a good Doctor and came here highly recommended" Cuddy said. "That's great…I'm sure she did…just make sure the next time you go ahead of ME and hire someone for MY Diagnostic Team that they're not incredibly hot and ENGAGED!" House said to her. "Engaged?" Cuddy questioned him. "Yea…either you have major Cataracts or you just didn't notice that huge rock sitting on her finger" House said as he walked back into his office.

"Now where were we? Ah yes…Dr. Massina suggested a B-12 deficiency…it does explain her symptoms but if you looked closely at her file you would see that while she was in the ER she got a B-12 injection" House said as he threw down a file for Christine to look at. "Dumb and Dumber go check her house for anything out of the ordinary…Dr. Massina and I are going to do a spinal nerve biopsy" House said. "You can't! You'll paralyze her!" Chase said. "Her parents will never consent to that" Foreman said. "If the biopsy comes back normal we'll know that it's not a Neurological defect" Christine said. "I like her…I'd watch your back though…Foreman thinks he's the Neurologist here" House said to her. Christine laughed quietly to herself. "I am a Neurologist and we already ruled out any kind of Neurological problem" Foreman said. "The Cat Scans all came back normal; there were no abnormalities or obstructions visible" Chase said. House just looked at Chase as his statement played over in his mind. "Chase, check her house…Foreman, get consent from the parents…Massina, you come with me" House said as he stood up signaling his seriousness. Chase and Foreman just stared at him as he and Christine walked out of the office.

"Where do you think they're going?" Chase asked Foreman. "Cuddy" Foreman said. "She never says no to him" Chase said. "That's not true" Foreman said. "Well nobody ever says no to him" Chase repeated himself. "He'll come back…He'll browbeat us… He'll give us seven reasons and eventually we'll fall…we all will, not just me." Foreman explained. "Even Christine?" Chase asked him. "He's already got her under his spell…as far as I'm concerned she's just another Cameron willing to do whatever, whenever to be number one in his eyes" Foreman said. "That's a little harsh now, don't you think? We just met the girl and you already have her pegged as some House Groupie" Chase said to him. "We just met her and you're already taking her side" Foreman said as he stood up and left the room.


	4. Manipulation At It's Finest

Love Hurts

Chapter 4 – Manipulation At It's Finest

"Where are we going?" Christine asked House as she followed him through the crowded hallways. "We're going to hell…also known as Dr. Cuddy's office" House said stopping in the middle of the corridor. "Dr. House, I'm sorry but I will not have any part in manipulating Dr. Cuddy" Christine said to him. "Don't worry…you're still too new for manipulating anyone, just pay attention to the pro" House said as he barged his way into Dr. Cuddy's office. "House, what do you want now?" Cuddy asked him. "It's not about what I want…it's about what my patient needs in order to live to see her Senior Prom" House said. "What does she need?" Cuddy asked him. "Dr. Massina and I believe that the patient needs a spinal nerve biopsy in order to fully rule out any Neurological defects" House said. "Isn't Foreman a Neurologist?" Cuddy asked him. "Yes he is…he's also a stubborn Taurus who enjoys basketball and long walks on the beach" House said. Cuddy just glared at House. "Foreman doesn't want to do it…and neither does Chase…that's why you're here and asking me" Cuddy said. "No, really? I thought it was protocol to run any decisions that MY Diagnostic Team comes up with by you first for prior approval" House said. "That's the way it should be" Cuddy said to him. "Look, she doesn't have much time left…can we do the biopsy or not?" House asked Cuddy. "Did you get her parents approval?" Cuddy asked him. "Foreman is working on it" House answered her. "Fine…do your biopsy…but if you paralyze her…you will be held accountable" Cuddy said.

House left Cuddy's office with a sense of accomplishment. "That was unbelievable" Christine said as her and House headed towards the patients room. "Oh stop, you'll make me blush" House said as they stopped in front of the patients empty room. "Maybe Foreman and Chase are running other tests" Christine said. "I doubt it…we're probably too late" House said as he made his way towards the OR with Christine right behind him. They got to the OR's observation room and sure enough there was their patient being operated on. "What did you do?" House asked Chase as he pressed the intercom. "I did nothing…she went into cardiac arrest" Chase answered him as he continued operating. "So much for our nerve biopsy" Christine said to House. House just looked at her and then it hit him. "I'll be right back, keep your eye on Dr. Chase" he said as he hurried out of the room. Christine just stood there in shock as she saw Dr. House barge his way into the operating room.

"House, what are you doing?" Chase asked as House pushed him out of the way. "I'm calling security" a Nurse said. "We don't have to do a nerve biopsy" House said as he started feeling around inside her open stomach. "We weren't going to do the biopsy anyway" Chase answered him. "Cuddy gave the okay so we were going to do it but…there's really no use in doing it now" House said as he pulled a 25 foot tapeworm from out of her intestines.

Later on that night, House watched as Christine spoke to their patient. "She's going to be fine" Christine said as she came out of the room and handed House the patients report. "I know" House said as he dismissed the report. "How did you figure it out?" Christine asked him as they started to walk down the hallway. "A true Magician never reveals his secrets" House said. "You're not a Magician…you're a Doctor" Christine said. "Technically it's the same thing" House said. Christine just laughed. "Why did you do that?" House asked her. "Do what?" Christine asked him. "You laughed…no one ever laughs at me" House said. "Dr. House…I know all about you…I know what you like and what you don't like…I know what scares you and I know that deep down inside you do care about your patients and that is what makes you an amazing Doctor" Christine explained to him. House just stared at her and then down at the ring on her hand. "Why don't you go home to your fiancée…I'll see you tomorrow" House said as he went to go into his office but she stopped him. "You need to let people in…you're not a very trusting person" Christine said. House just stared blankly at her. "If you wanted to be a Psychologist, you're on the wrong floor" House said to her. "Goodnight Dr. House" Christine said to him with a smile. "Goodnight" House said as he disappeared behind his office door.


	5. Too Hot To Handle

Love Hurts

Chapter 5 – Too Hot To Handle

A few days later House and his Team were working overtime trying to solve these bizarre and unheard of cases. Christine seemed to be fitting in just perfectly and House's leg pain had decreased tremendously. "What are you on?" Wilson asked House. "I'm high on life" House replied. "No, I'm serious House…you're different…it's actually really creepy" Wilson said. "I'm fine; don't you have some Cancer Kids to harass?" House said. Wilson just stared at House. "You're smiling…you don't smile" Wilson pointed out to him. They stopped walking and stood in front of House's office, Wilson followed Houses gaze which landed directly on Christine. "Oh God House…don't tell me…no…you wouldn't" Wilson said. "Wouldn't what?" House asked with a smirk. "You can't! It would be Cameron all over again…you can't-" Wilson was cut off by House. "I don't even know why I'm playing into your crazy theory here but if anything was to happen…it wouldn't be Cameron all over again" House stated. "Yes it would! Beautiful young Doctor falls for Hard Ass Mentor…AGAIN!" Wilson said. "She's not looking for a Charity Case" House said. "It doesn't matter! House, no! You can't do it! Find a girl who doesn't work for you to be with" Wilson said. "Oh Wilson, relax…mine and Christine's relationship is purely professional…until she admits her undying love to me" House said. Wilson just glared at House. "You just called her by her first name" Wilson pointed out. "Nothing is going to happen…she's engaged anyway" House mumbled the last part of his sentence. "She's what?" Wilson asked. "She's happily engaged" House said. "Are you sure?" Wilson asked. "Of course I'm sure! His name is Michael and he's a Firefighter…which doesn't give him such a great life expectancy" House said with another smirk.

Before Wilson could say anything else to him House entered his office to see his Team sitting down around the table with files in front of them. "By the seriously dull looks on your faces, I'd say you're all reading our new case file" House said as he got himself a cup of coffee. "Derek Woods, a 28 year old firefighter, brought into the ER after passing out on the job, he had a fever of 102 degrees and has had burns over more than 50 of his body" Christine explained. "Wonderful…any ideas?" House asked. "It's an infection" Chase suggests. "That or smoke inhalation caused him to pass out as well spike his fever" Christine said. "Or since he has burns covering more than 50 of his body his temperature is already off and if that's the case than we can do a CT Scan to see what part of his brain is misfiring" Foreman explained. "Get a scan of his brain and check his blood for any infections" House said as everyone scattered off.

"The CT Scan came back normal" Foreman said as he entered House's office with Chase and Christine behind him. "All the blood tests came back normal as well…it's not an infection" Christine said. "Great…so that leaves us with…smoke inhalation" House said as he read off his white board. "It doesn't explain his fever spiking the way it is" Chase said. "It's Cardiac related…smoke inhalation deprives the body of oxygen therefore causing him to weaken, there has to be some scaring on his heart" Christine suggested. "Nice…get an Echo and do an Angiogram" House said. Foreman and Chase left the room and as Christine was about to, House stopped her. "Dr. Massina" he said. "Yea?" Christine asked him. "Are you ok?" House asked her. "What do you mean? Of course, I'm fine…why?" Christine asked him. "For someone who is marrying a Firefighter…you don't seem that involved in this case" House said to her. Christine just glared at House. "Trouble in Paradise?" he asked. "Dr. House, I refuse to let my personal life affect any aspects of my work" Christine answered him. "You're not letting anything affect you…you don't even seem to care which is so unlike you" House said. Christine just glared at House again. "I'm fine" she said glaring straight into his bright blue eyes. "No, you're not…why don't you go home for the rest of the day…sit this one out" House said. "What? Are you serious? Now I heard you were crazy but I didn't think you were this screwed up" Christine answered him. "I'm not the one screwed up right now…you are" he said. "How dare you do this to me? You don't even know me! Just let me do my job" Christine yelled at him, practically in tears. "Sorry…but I don't think our patient would want you leaking on him" House said. Christine turned her back from him so that she could compose herself. "Just let me do my job…I want to…please?" Christine said to him. "Fine…but if the Echo and Angiogram are negative…you're going home" House said. "Fine" Christine said as she grabbed her case file and left House's office.

"The Echo and Angiogram were negative…it's not cardiac related" Christine said entering House's office. "I'll see you tomorrow" House said to her. Christine just glared at him and stormed out of his office. Moments later, Chase and Foreman appeared. "We re-ran the labs and they're all clean" Chase said. "Get a piece of his brain" House said. "What? We already did the CT Scan and it came back normal…it's not Neurological" Foreman said. "If it's a tumor the CT Scan wouldn't have picked up on it before but now it will…his body was still overheated…do a brain biopsy and if that doesn't work than do a LP" House said as he grabbed his cane and left his office.

"It's not Cardiac related" House said as he entered Dr. Wilson's office. "So you think its Cancer, why else would you be here?" Wilson answered him. "What do you have against Dr. Massina?" House asked him. "I have nothing against her, she's beautiful, caring, intelligent and crazy to want to work with you" Wilson said. "I sent her home" House said. "Why?" Wilson asked. "Because…she was having some problems" House said. "What kind of problems?" Wilson asked. "Personal problems" House said. "What?" Wilson asked. "She wasn't wearing her engagement ring!" House exclaimed. "Ok…and that means?" Wilson asked. "Wow…and you would think that I was the one who was once married" House said. "It means that obviously there's some problems going on and instead of being here and working on a case that reminds her of her soon to be hubby…she should be home" House said. "Right…she should be home where her soon to be hubby probably is…God House, you really are an idiot when it comes to relationships" Wilson said. "If anything I helped her…which proves that I'm not interested in her" House said. "Wait…let me get this straight here…you sent her home to be with her fiancée who she's arguing with instead of having her stay here to get her mind off of everything?" Wilson said. "Yea…that and to prove that I'm not interested in her" House said. "You're unbelievable House…and dumb as hell" Wilson said. "What? How am I dumb if anything I-" House was cut off by Wilson. "I can guarantee you that she didn't go home…you sent a vulnerable woman away from what she finds comfort in…God knows where or who she is with right now" Wilson said. House stared at Wilson for a few seconds as he let everything he had just said sink in. "I'll see you tomorrow" House said as he rushed out of Wilson's office.


	6. Intoxicated Passion And The Aftermath

Love Hurts

Chapter 6 – Intoxicated Passion And The Aftermath

House walked down the street, peering into store windows hoping to find Christine. All he wanted to know is if she was safe and then he could go back to work. House entered the normal bar he'd go to expecting not to find her there but he was pleasantly surprised when he did. "I think it's a tumor" House said as he took a seat down next to Christine. "What are you doing here?" she asked him. "I shouldn't have sent you home" House said. Christine just looked at him as she downed the rest of her drink. "What do you have there?" House asked her. "Gin on the rocks" she said. House just stared at her in disbelief. "What? You don't believe me?" she asked him. "You don't seem like the Gin kind of girl" House answered her. "You don't know me" she said to him. "I know and I'm sorry for thinking that I did" House said. "It's ok…I thought I knew you too" Christine said. House just looked at her as he ordered a glass of Bourbon on the rocks and another Gin for Christine. "So what happened? Was it the Classic Wedding Song argument?" House asked as he downed his drink in one big gulp. "I wish" Christine said nearly finishing her drink. "You drink like a girl" House said as another drink was placed down in front of him. "How did you know?" Christine asked him. "Well…you weren't wearing your ring…and although I've never been married before I do know that not wearing your cherished ring anymore means there is a problem" House explained. "So you lied when you said I was acting disinterested in the case?" Christine asked him. "Another round" House said as the bartender placed another round of drinks down in front of them. "Technically it wasn't a lie…it was more of a cover up" House said taking a sip of his new drink. Christine just looked at him and downed her last two glasses. "You're improving" House said as he ordered another round. "I caught him with another woman" Christine blurted out. "I'm sorry" House said sincerely. "It was over the weekend…I came home from work and saw that he was home which he shouldn't have been and…I walked in on him in our bedroom having sex with some nasty bleach blonde tramp" Christine said as she downed another drink. "I'm sorry…he's an idiot" House said finishing off another drink. "Thanks" Christine replied with a smile. House smiled back as him and Christine raised their glasses in a toast. "What comes around, goes around" House said. Christine smiled at him as they clanged glasses and then downed their drinks.

A few minutes later, both of them knew that they were drunk. Christine couldn't stop laughing at House and how he was making fun of everyone who worked at the Hospital. "You're hysterical" Christine said staring right into House's dreamlike eyes. "Thank you, I try" House said staring right back. Both of them were silent as they continued to gaze at each other. Feeling amazing, House placed his hand on Christine's thigh and she didn't move or say anything. She just continued looking into his eyes and smiling. House leaned himself closer to her and smiled when he saw her shut her eyes and gently pucker her lips. "Let's get out of here" he whispered in her ear causing her to open her eyes and grin widely.

Within minutes both of them were back at House's apartment. The minute he opened his door Christine carefully pushed him inside. Once the door was shut, House threw his cane down and wrapped his arms around Christine's small waist. Christine reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him down towards her. Their lips met in a passionate kiss leaving both of them breathless once they pulled away. Christine wasted no time as she threw House's blazer down on the floor and unbuttoned his shirt. Once he was completely shirtless, he ripped off her jacket and blouse as well. He took a few seconds to stare at her in her bra, he was mesmerized. "You like?" she asked in a sexy voice. "I love" he answered back. House quickly undid her bra and watched in awe as it fell off of her, revealing her amazingly huge breasts. House knew he wasn't going to be able to take much more so he grabbed Christine and they continued to make out and grope each other until they fell down onto his bed.

A loud and obnoxious ring tone filled the room as House's eyes slowly opened. He groaned as the sound continued. His head was pounding and he was freezing. It didn't take him long to realize that he was naked and that's why he was cold and his headache was due to the mass amount of alcohol he had previously consumed earlier in the night. He went to sit up and felt something restricting his bed sheets. He looked next to him and there was Christine, sleeping on her stomach and looking even more beautiful than ever before. Memories of before flashed through House's mind as he layed there, unable to move. A part of him felt amazing and then another part of him felt guilty. He was nervous to see how she was going to react once she woke up and realized what had happened. He contemplated leaving her there but sleep overcame him and as soon as he shut his eyes, his cell phone rang again this time waking up Christine. "Someone better be dying" House said as he turned on his bedside light and answered his phone. Christine propped her head up and looked around the unfamiliar room. It didn't take her long to register what had happened at all. "I'll be there in a few" House said as he shut his phone, he was actually afraid to look next to him. "Was that Chase?" Christine asked him. "Yea…our patient just went into Cardiac Arrest" House answered without looking at her. Christine just sighed deeply as she buried her face in the pillow. "We've checked everywhere but his spinal cord…if he has a tumor on his spinal cord that would explain the lack of blood to the brain" House said. Christine just looked at House and rolled her eyes. "Spinal Meningioma" Christine said. "Yep, it-" House was cut off by Christine. "Are you kidding me?" she asked. "What? You don't think it makes sense?" House asked her. "No! Well yeah for the case but…I mean how could you sit here and talk about work and pretend that nothing happened?" Christine yelled at him. "First of all, I already have a headache and second of all I'm not pretending…we got drunk and we had sex…it's not science you know?" House said. Christine just glared at him. "Greg" she said stopping him from getting up. "You've never called me Greg before" House said to her. "We never had sex before" Christine said with a playful smile across her lips. "You still can't call me Greg…what will Chase and Foreman think?" House said to her. "If you think that I care about what they think…I wouldn't still be here right now" Christine said as she climbed her way back on top of House. "So you're not mad?" House asked her. "If I was do you think I'd do this?" Christine answered him as she straddled his waist. House smiled and met her lips with a passionate and now sober kiss.

Chase and Foreman sat in House's office for what seemed like ever. "Where the hell are they?" Chase said out loud. "Well we all know how long House likes to make us wait…as far as Christine…she has a fiancée and that's why she didn't answer her phone" Foreman explained. Chase just looked at Foreman and then to the door as Christine came trotting inside. "Sorry guys, I'm a heavy sleeper" Christine said as she sat down in her seat. Seconds later, House came in, looking happy and singing away. "Are you feeling ok?" Chase asked him. "Of course! Why wouldn't I? It's not every night that you guys wake me up at 3 AM" House said as he poured himself some coffee and without thinking poured a cup for Christine too. House quickly noticed what he did when he saw her look at him oddly. "Anyone else?" he offered. "No thanks" Chase and Foreman said in unison. "Spinal Meningioma" House said taking a seat on the table. "It explains the obstructed blood flow to his brain and also explains the spiked fevers and loss of conciseness" Christine said. Chase and Foreman just looked at each other and then back at Christine and House. "Did you guys already talk about this?" Foreman asked them. "No!" Christine and House said in unison. "It just explains all of his symptoms…I say we do a LP just to make sure there is a tumor there" Christine said getting up from her chair. "Perfect, do the LP and if it's positive than we have our diagnosis" House said. Chase and Foreman just looked at each other again and got up. "If there isn't a tumor there, we could paralyze him" Chase said. "So what? Being a Cripple isn't so bad…look at me, I'm perfectly fine" House said. Chase and Foreman left the room and as Christine was about to, House stopped her using his cane to block the door. He turned off his lights and pressed a gentle kiss on Christine's lips. "Make sure they don't screw up the LP" he said to her. She smiled at him and walked off. House watched until she was completely out of sight. He sighed deeply and reached into his pocket for his bottle of Vicodin's, he opened it and swallowed his normal dosage.

"You were right…there's a tumor on the membrane covering his spinal cord" Foreman said barging into House's office with Chase and Christine. "Well duh…that's what I said, remember?" House said to him. "Schedule him for surgery tomorrow morning…once we remove the tumor he'll be back to running in and out of burning buildings in no time" House said grabbing his cane and leaving his office. Once outside of the hospital, House waited for Christine. He was going to ask her to come back to his place with him but that quickly became forgotten as he watched her walking next to and laughing along with Chase. House could feel the rage boiling up inside and it scared him. He started to think causing him to get very frustrated. 'What would a beautiful young woman like her want with an old, crippled bastard like me? She's better off with Chase' he thought to himself. He finished off his bottle of Vicodin and walked back home and this time he was alone.


	7. She Really Wants Him

Love Hurts

Chapter 7 – She Really Wants Him

The next day House arrived early at work causing both Cuddy and Wilson to question him. After he was done avoiding them, he made his way into his office, only to be shocked when he saw who was already inside and waiting for him. "I missed you" Christine said as she closed the blinds and locked the door. House just stood there in shock, part of him thought he was hallucinating. "You're early" House said to her. "I know…I knew you would be too" Christine said to him. "Did anyone see you come in?" House asked her. "Nope, I came in through the back" Christine said. House just looked at her and then he had a flashback to the night before of her with Chase and whatever ounce of happiness he was feeling, quickly vanished. "I have work to do" he said making his way around her. "Are you serious?" Christine asked him. "Well, in case you didn't know…I am a Doctor" House replied back to her. Christine just stared at him; obviously something was wrong with him. "Are you in pain? Do you want me to get you some more Vicodin?" she asked him. "No…I'll get my refill later" he answered her. "What's wrong with you?" she asked him. "Nothing! I'm fine, ok?" House snapped at her. "No you're not…you've never snapped at me before" Christine said to him. "Well get used to it" House replied. "Are you acting like this because of what happened last night?" Christine asked him. House didn't answer her. "I thought you were ok with everything" she said. "What do you want from me?" House snapped at her again. "I want you to tell me what's wrong with you" Christine snapped back at him. "There's nothing wrong" House said lowering his voice. "Yes there is! You-" Christine was cut off by House. "I saw you with Chase last night" House finally said. "He was walking with me…nothing happened" Christine said. "Well it didn't look like it" House replied. "Greg…nothing happened with Chase…he offered me a ride home and I didn't take it…I walked…hoping to run into you" Christine said. House just looked at her. A big part of him believed her but then there was that little part that didn't. "I don't want to be with Chase…I want to be with you" Christine said walking closer to him. "Why? Look at me, I'm old, crippled and mean…Chase is young, not crippled and nice…he could give you more than I ever could" House said to her. Christine just looked at House; she knew he was going to say something like that to her. "Greg, its ok…I'm not looking for a relationship…I just want someone to be there for me…I want someone to hold me and make me feel wanted…and I want you to be that man…not Chase" Christine explained to him. House's eyes widened in shock, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You seem surprised?" Christine said to him. "I didn't think this is how it was going to go" House said. Christine smiled and walked right up to House. "Things aren't always what they seem and you of all people should know that by now" Christine said as she wrapped her arms around House's neck. "So you really want me?" House asked her just to make sure. "Shut up and kiss me" Christine answered him as their lips met in a passionate kiss.

"So how did it go last night?" Foreman asked Chase as they walked from the parking lot towards the hospital. "What do you mean?" Chase asked him. "Don't lie to me, I saw you walking with Christine" Foreman said. "Oh, that…it was nice" Chase said. "Nice? What's that supposed to mean? You do remember that she has a fiancée, right?" Foreman asked him. "Of course I do" Chase answered him. "So…what happened?" Foreman asked him again. "Nothing really…I offered her a ride home and she said no thanks, she wanted to walk" Chase said. Foreman just looked at Chase. "She's not stupid" Foreman said. "Obviously she's not, I don't think she'd be working here if she was" Chase said. "That's not what I meant" Foreman said as they both entered the hospital.

After grabbing some coffee from the in hospital café, Chase and Foreman walked into House's office extremely surprised to see House sitting there, watching his Soap Opera and Christine sitting down at the table on her lap top. "Are we in the right office?" Chase asked Foreman. "Dumb and Dumber…Welcome! Have a seat, want a smoke? Or a drink perhaps?" House asked them. Chase and Foreman just looked at each other as they both sat down. "What are you doing here? Normally we have to wait about an hour for you to come in" Chase said to House. "I had some work to do" House said not taking his eyes away from the TV. "Ok, now I'm really freaked out…who are you and where is House?" Foreman said. "Oh Foreman, relax…its still me…I'm still a cripple, see?" House said waving his cane at him. "What are you on?" Chase asked him. "Besides a few Vicodin's for the massive pain in my right leg…nothing" House said as he remembered he needed to get a refill. "Speaking of pain…I'll be right back" House said as he got up and left his office. "How long have you been here?" Chase asked Christine who seemed really into whatever she was looking at on her laptop. "I got here 5 minutes before you guys did and when I came in he was already here and watching his Soap Opera" Christine said.

"In pain here!" House shouted impatiently at the Hospital Pharmacist. "Here" he said as he slammed a new bottle of Vicodin down on the counter in front of House. "What happy place did they find you at?" House asked as he downed his pills. "There you are! House, what is going on with you today?" Wilson asked him. "Besides the fact that I'm in more pain than usual…nothing" House said with a mischievous grin. "Wait a minute…what was that grin for? Something is going on with you" Wilson said as he followed House down the hallway. "Don't you have patients to harass?" House asked. "It's Massina, isn't it? She's gotten to you" Wilson said stopping House right in his tracks. "Christine isn't getting to me" House said. "Yes she is! You can't stop smiling and you're pretty much skipping around this Hospital like a school girl with a serious crush" Wilson pointed out to him. "I wish I could skip" House said hitting his cane on the floor. "Isn't she engaged? House, you can't do this it's-" Wilson was cut off by House. "They broke up" House said. "They what? Are you serious?" Wilson asked. "Yep, she caught him cheating on her...and you say Soap Operas aren't real" House said. "House…you cannot do-" Wilson was cut off again. "We're having sex, ok? Happy now?" House blurted out. Wilson just stood there in shock as House hobbled back to his office.

A couple of hours later, House and Christine were in a pretty heavy make out session in his office. The blinds were drawn closed and the doors were locked. There were no cases to be diagnosed so Chase and Foreman were working in the Clinic and Christine was suppose to be doing Lab Work in the Lab but someone just had to intervene. "Staying at my place tonight?" House asked her. "Yea…if you want me to…again" Christine answered him with a smile. House grinned as he tenderly kissed her lips. "Have you heard from your ex yet?" House asked her. "Uh…no…the last time I saw him was that night…I don't know if he came back to the apartment or not considering how I haven't been sleeping there anymore" Christine said to him. "Have you decided about what you're going to do…with your stuff that is" House asked her. "Well…I'm going to move in with my friend…she lives in the Clearview Apartments right down the street from you" Christine said. "You might as well move in with me then" House said causing Christine to sit up from his lap. "I didn't mean to say-" House was cut off by Christine. "It's ok…I mean we've been spending a lot of time together…its normal" Christine said as she repositioned herself underneath his arm.

House barged into Wilson's office as he was going through some files. "What is it House? I don't have any condoms here" Wilson answered him. "I don't need condoms…I have enough" House said. Wilson just looked at him and shook his head as he pushed the files aside to concentrate on his friends sudden presence. "Ok…obviously you're ready to talk and I'm ready to listen so go" Wilson said. "Christine and I are having sex…we've been for the past couple of nights" House said. "How did this happen?" Wilson asked him. "I found her in a bar drowning her sorrows in Gin" House said. "You took advantage of her while she was drunk??" Wilson asked in disbelief. "No…we were both drunk…and stoned" House said bulging his eyes out at Wilson. "Right…so how is it now? Is it weird or-" Wilson was cut off by House. "Lets just say I'm almost out of condoms and the couch in my office needs to be replaced" House said with a smirk. "You're having sex with your employee in your office?? How? Aren't you afraid of someone walking in and seeing you?" Wilson asked. "It's more exciting…not that its not when we're at my place…I'm sure my neighbors aren't exactly thrilled but here is definitely more risky" House said. "So…you're just having sex…that's it?" Wilson asked. "Yep…we agreed on it" House answered him. "And the fact that she just broke up with her fiancée doesn't bother you at all?" Wilson asked him. "Nope…the fact that she broke up with him makes it all the more better for me, don't you think?" House said. "That's not what I meant…she's using you, House" Wilson said. House just looked at Wilson and then tried to stand up without using his cane. "She's not using me…she wants me…not Chase, Foreman or you…she wants me" House said as he leaned against Wilson's desk. "And do you want her?" Wilson asked him. House just looked at him and then down at his cane on the floor. "She could have her pick of any other man in this hospital and she chose me…she didn't see a Charity Case…she saw me" House said sounding as if he had realized this for the first time. Wilson just looked at House and smiled. "Be careful, House…just be careful" Wilson said as he watched House grab his cane and leave his office.

House entered his office to see Christine gathering her things. "I really have to do this lab work…if I put it off any longer Cuddy won't be happy" Christine said as she put her lab coat back on. "So what? When is Cuddy ever happy?" House said wrapping his arms around Christine's waist and pulling her closer to him. "House, I have to go…we'll continue this tonight" Christine said as she got out of his grasp. As she turned on her heel to leave the office, House stopped her by putting his cane against his door. "Are you ok?" he asked her. "I'm fine…and you?" she asked. "I'm fine too…but you seem distracted…what's going on with you?" House asked her. "Nothing…I feel great…I'm happy and I really need to get this work done so that is what's distracting me" Christine answered him. "Alight…I'll see you at my place…8 o'clock…don't be late" House said to her. "Am I ever late?" Christine asked him. "From what I heard your Boss says no" House said placing a chaste kiss on her lips. He watched her walk down the hallway and sighed as he shut his door. He hobbled back over to his desk and sat down. He turned on his iPod and put his earphones on. As the music consumed him he grabbed a couple of files which were buried under non necessary items scattered across his desk. He sighed as he opened the first one, was he actually about to do paperwork?

House hobbled through the main floor of the hospital. He was heading home at exactly 6 o'clock meaning he had spent an hour catching up on paperwork which still surprised him. As he neared the front door, he caught view of Cuddy coming towards him. He rolled his eyes as he started to move faster but it was no use, she was already blocking his exit. "House! Where are you going? You owe me 6 hours of Clinic Duty from last week" Cuddy reminded him. "Right and that's why today I sent Chase and Foreman to do them for me" House said to her. "House, you can't do that…you owe me those hours…and if you don't make them up this week I will double your hours for next week" Cuddy said. "Was that a threat? You should know I don't work well under pressure" House said. "You work amazingly well under pressure" Cuddy said. "Right…now if you don't mind I have to get home…I have a cute little hooker waiting for me…although I can always tell her to meet me here" House said as he reached for his cell phone. "Go House…but tomorrow you're making up those hours" Cuddy said as she walked off. House watched her walk away and couldn't help but laugh at himself.


	8. Lunch With Chase Equals A Jealous House

Love Hurts

Chapter 8 – Lunch With Chase Equals A Jealous House

The next day House woke up to see Christine still asleep and tucked safely underneath his arm. "Good morning" he said as he removed a piece of hair away from her face. "Morning" she said with a cute yawn. "What are you doing up already?" she asked him. "I just woke up" House answered her. Christine smiled as she sat up and stretched allowing House a full view of her naked body. "You know…we can always call in sick…I'm sure Chase and Foreman could handle everything" House said as he grabbed Christine and placed her on his sheet covered lap. "Although that sounds amazing…we can't do that…plus wouldn't it look a little weird if you and I both called out sick?" Christine asked him. "So what? Who cares what they think?" House said. "Uh House…we have to care…no one can find out about this…we made a deal" Christine reminded him. "I know…but it wouldn't be the worst thing if someone did find out…accidentally" House said hesitantly. Christine just looked at House, she knew something wasn't right. "Who did you tell?" she asked him trying to sound calm about it. "Wilson…he wouldn't leave me alone about it…he just kept prying and asking and I caved" House said. Christine looked at House and laughed at the sad puppy dog face he was giving her. "You tell Wilson everything so I'm not surprised…as long as it stays between the…3 of us…we'll be fine" Christine said as she gave House a peck on the lips and got out of his bed. "So are we still calling in?" House asked as he watched Christine grab her clothes from her bag. She looked over at him and laughed as she left his room and headed towards the bathroom.

"So how about the new Nurse in Oncology?" Foreman asked Chase as they sat in their usual chairs surrounding the glass table in the Conference Room which was located right outside of Dr. House's office. "Nah…I've never really been into blondes" Chase said. "Right…just tan Italian Doctors with huge-" Foreman was cut off by Chase. "Shut up Foreman! For a fellow Bachelor, you talk about her way more than I do" Chase pointed out to him. "I just talk about what I see and I see how you look at her…you like her…you're just afraid to admit it because you think it'll end up the same way as it did with you and Cameron" Foreman said. "First of all, Christine is engaged, meaning she's off limits unless she likes to commit adultery…and as far as Cameron goes…that was a mistake that we both fixed before it got out of hand" Chase said. "Sure…I guess having sex in the Sleep Study Room was a mistake too" Foreman said. Before Chase could answer him, Christine came trotting into the room, followed by a happy, whistling, House.

"Good morning everyone" House said with a smile. Foreman and Chase exchanged confused glances as they watched Christine making coffee. She seemed to be completely oblivious to the way House had been acting for the past few days. "Since we don't have any real work to do…what's on everyone's agenda for today?" House asked as Christine handed him the first cup of coffee. "Well…I have some paperwork to catch up on and I guess I'll see if any help is needed in the lab" Foreman said. "Cuddy already told me I have to help out in the ER" Chase said. "Me too…supposedly they're under-staffed today…she grabbed me before I left last night and told me" Christine said. "Geez…you would think that you guys were working for Dr. Cuddy now" House said. "What are you going to be doing?" Christine asked House. "Dreaded Clinic Duty…or I can just OD on my Vicodins and spend the day getting my stomach pumped" House joked. Christine looked at House with a serious stare and House let out a laugh. "I'm just kidding…I wouldn't do that…I'll just bother Wilson" House said.

After all the coffee was gone, everyone left the room. House headed downstairs to the Clinic, Foreman went to the Lab and Christine and Chase went to the ER. "So…is it just us or have you too noticed how strange House has been acting lately?" Chase asked Christine as they boarded the elevator. "What do you mean?" Christine asked him. "House has been acting very strange lately…it's as if he's always high…which he usually is but it seems like there is something else going on…he's acting…happy" Chase pointed out. Christine couldn't help but let out a laugh. "He's probably seeing someone and doesn't want anyone to know about it" she said. "Yeah…he probably has a different hooker for every night" Chase said. Christine just looked at him and laughed again. "House is House…who knows what is going on with him…as long as he does his job, I don't care" Christine said. Chase just looked at Christine as the elevator doors opened. The truth was he wasn't expecting an answer like that from her. Maybe House didn't have her under his spell…and maybe she wasn't like Cameron, which made Chase want her even more. Chase followed Christine up to the main ER desk; he watched as she grabbed a file and briefly scanned it. "This should be fun" she said to him as she went to walk off but he stopped her. "Christine…later on…you want to grab lunch together?" he asked her. "Sure, you know where to find me" Christine answered him with a smile. Chase smiled too and watched her and she walked away from him. Once she was out of sight, Chase grabbed a file and thumbed through it about 8 times before he could finally concentrate on it and not on his up and coming lunch date with Christine.

A few hours later, Chase was ready for lunch. He walked around the ER and stopped when he saw Christine bandaging up a horrible gash on a patients calf. He watched as she spoke to the patient. She had such a sweet and caring nature about her, it reminded him of how Cameron was, always wearing her heart on her sleeve and going that extra mile for the patient. Chase was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize Christine standing right in front of him. "Just let me wash up and we'll be ready to go" Christine said to him. "Sounds good to me" Chase said hoping that she didn't catch him staring so adoringly at her. Since the ER was such a madhouse, they decided to have lunch in the cafeteria. "So what made you want to become a Doctor?" Christine asked him as they sat down at a table away from everyone else. "My father was a Doctor so growing up I pretty much had no other choice" Chase said. "Your father was a Doctor?" Christine asked making sure she had heard right. "Yeah…he passed away last year…lung cancer" Chase said taking a sip of his coffee. "I'm sorry" Christine said taking a long sip from her water bottle. "It's ok…my father and I didn't really have a great relationship…he left when I was very young…I always blamed him for everything…my alcoholic mother that I had to take care of and everything else that was wrong in my life" Chase said. "I'm sorry…I didn't know" Christine said feeling sorry for him. "It's ok…without a screwed up childhood I wouldn't be where I am today" Chase said. Christine smiled as she took a bite of her sandwich. "Enough about me, what about you? You're young, intelligent, beautiful and engaged…I'm sure your fiancée is the happiest man on earth" Chase said. Christine just looked at Chase and let out a laugh. "I'm actually not engaged anymore…I caught him cheating on me so…its over" Christine said finishing off her water bottle. Chase's jaw dropped in shock, part of him was ecstatic and the other part felt truly bad for her. "I'm so sorry…I didn't know" Chase said sincerely. "It's ok…I like being single again" Christine said to him. Chase smiled at her and she smiled back.

"So how is Clinic Duty going?" Wilson asked House as they both entered the cafeteria. "Horrible…if I had a dollar for every patient complaining of a runny nose or itchy eyes I wouldn't have to steal money from you anymore" House said as they got on line to get food. "That's not what you wanted to ask me" House said. "What do you mean?" Wilson asked him. "You want to know how everything is going between me and Christine" House said. Wilson just looked at House and laughed. "Fine, you caught me…how is everything going? Since you mentioned it" Wilson asked. "Well if you must know…everything is fine…the sex is amazing" House said as he waited for Wilson to pay for their food. "That's all it is to you…just sex" Wilson said as they sat down at a table. "Duh…the girl just broke up with her fiancée…how rude of me to make her love again" House said. "She doesn't love you…she's just using you, House" Wilson said. "You say using I say…getting her frustration out…if you know what I mean" House said taking a big bite out of his Reuben sandwich. Wilson rolled his eyes as he finished off his fifth coffee of the day. "This wont end good" Wilson said. "Who said it has to end?" House said chomping down on some potato chips. "How can you of all people trust her?" Wilson asked him. "It's just sex…who needs trust?" House said. "It's not just sex, House…and the sooner you realize that, the better" Wilson said as his eyes wondered over to the table in the opposite direction of theirs. "You're just jealous that she's with me and not with you" House said. "Are you sure she's with you?" Wilson asked him bringing his eyes and focus back to their table. "Of course I am what kind of question is that?" House asked getting defensive. "Do you know where she is right now?" Wilson asked him. "Of course, she's in the ER" House said. "Are you sure about that?" Wilson asked. "Of course I am! Now what's with these questions?" House asked curiously. "House, she's in here right now…sitting at the table across from us with Chase" Wilson said. House just looked at Wilson; he knew Wilson wouldn't lie to him. He glanced across from them and there she was, sitting down with Chase, talking, smiling and laughing away. Part of him was angry and the other part felt ok but he couldn't let Wilson think he was right so he brushed it off as if it meant nothing to him. "So what? They're colleagues…they can have lunch together…the last time I checked, having lunch with someone didn't mean you slept with them too" House said. Wilson just looked at him and shook his head. "I hope you're right House…for your sake" Wilson said as he looked at his friend who was trying so hard to hide how he was really feeling.


	9. Her Ex Fiancee

Love Hurts

Chapter 9 – Her Ex-Fiancée

"Dr. Massina, Dr. Chase…how is it in the ER today?" House asked as he approached the table they were sitting at. "It's crazy…why do you ask?" Christine said. "Just wondering…I mean if its so crazy I guess they can afford to have you two leave and come to lunch so soon" House said. "The only reason we're in here is because of how crazy it is in there" Chase said. House just glared at him. "Right and I suppose if it wasn't so crazy you guys would be having lunch elsewhere" House said. "Actually…yeah" Chase said. At this point Christine knew House was a little upset so she just held her head and watched as him and Chase kept going back and forth with the sarcasm and bickering. "Oh shut up Chase, no one likes a Brit" House said. "I am not British…I am Australian, there's a big difference" Chase corrected him. "So what? It's all the same to me! Right Wilson?" House said as he noticed Wilson coming towards them. "Sure…lets go House" Wilson said as he grabbed House's arm and dragged him away before things got too mean.

"What a jerk" Chase said as he got up from the table. "Like I said…House is House" Christine said getting up with him. "I don't care, I'm sick of the way he treats me" Chase said as he threw out their garbage. "So what are you going to do? Quit? You can't do that Chase…just deal with it like you have been for the past 2 years" Christine said. "I know…it's all I can do…he just…he seemed so angry before…it was as if he was mad about us being here and eating together" Chase said. Christine couldn't help but let out a laugh, she knew that is exactly why House was pissed. "Who cares? He's a jerk, we all know this…lets just go on and do our job" Christine said as they re-entered the ER just as the Ambulance was dropping someone off.

"27 year old Firefighter…electrocuted himself while he was hooking up a new TV…pulse is weak…and he's in and out of consciousness" the Paramedic said. Christine and Chase immediately ran towards the gurney. "I need 6 CC's of Epiquin now!" Chase shouted. "He's seizing!" Christine yelled as the patient started to have a seizure. "Where' that Epiquin?" Chase shouted again. Chase grabbed the Epiquin from the Nurse and plunged it into the patient's chest. Suddenly Christine stopped what she was about to do. Everything was moving in slow motion for her as she stared at the face of the patient lying so helplessly on the gurney in front of them. "Michael" she said as she pushed past everyone else to get a better look at the patient. "Christine, what are you doing? He's going to die!" Chase said as he watched Christine stare at the patient. "Get me 4 CC's of Lazoprin and get him into an OR…NOW!" Christine shouted as she injected the medicine into her ex-fiancée's IV. Chase and everyone else watched in confusion as Christine helped the paramedics get Michael on to a bed. "Let's go!" she shouted to everyone as they wheeled him down the hallway.

"His mother was diagnosed with Epilepsy when he was 5 years old…she was put on Klonopin and hasn't had a seizure ever since" Christine said taking a slow sip of her coffee. "What about his father?" Chase asked her. "Hypertension and Mitro Valve Surgery when Michael was 20 years old" Christine said. "Ok…well that about does it…how are you feeling?" Chase asked her. "I'm fine…a little shocked but I'll be ok" Christine answered him. "I know this can't be easy for you…if you need anything at all, don't hesitate to ask, ok?" Chase said. "Ok…thanks Chase" Christine said as she embraced him in a warm hug. "Your welcome" Chase said as he embraced her back. "Figures, her ex-fiancée is dying and you just can't wait to move in…you Brits are all the same" House said as he came into the OR observation room with Foreman. "Michael Verona is a 27 year old, DUMB, Firefighter who electrocuted himself while hooking up a new TV…gee I wonder if it was Hi-Def" House said scanning the file. "Patient had multiple seizures while here as well as CHF" House continued. "What an excellent patient history…the provider must be thrilled" House said looking over at Christine who was too busy watching the surgery. "Do you have to be such a jerk? It's her fiancée down there" Foreman said to House. "Her Ex-fiancée" House said. "It doesn't matter…obviously she still cares so stop being an ass, show some compassion for once in your miserable life" Foreman said. House glared at Foreman, he knew he was right. "When he's out of surgery, I want you to get an MRI…evidentially something happened to his brain during or after the electrocution…find out which one and then see me" House said as Chase and Foreman walked out of the room, leaving House and Christine alone. House stood behind Christine who was fixated on watching Michael's surgery. "Are you ok?" House asked her. "Yeah…I'm fine" Christine said taking another sip of her coffee. "Look, he's going to be in there for a while…Chase and Foreman have it covered…why don't you go home and get some rest" House said to her. "You're sending me home again?" Christine asked as she tuned around to face him. "To be a Doctor, you must be objective…you can't be objective with someone you're in love with" House said. Christine just looked at House. "Fine, call me when he's out" Christine said as she grabbed her lab coat and left the room.

"So let me get this straight…her ex-fiancée is dying and you're happy about it?" Wilson said to House as they stood on the Hospital roof, overlooking the town. "I'm not happy about anything" House said. "What did the MRI show?" Wilson asked him. "It showed a tumor…they're doing a biopsy now to see if it's cancerous" House said. "Does Christine know?" Wilson asked him. "No…she doesn't" House said. "House, she has a right to know what's-" Wilson was cut off by House. "Don't you think I know that? I know she should know…I just don't know if I can tell her" House said. Wilson just looked at House; he knew how rare this behavior from him was. "I think you should tell her what's going on" Wilson said. "Yeah, I know" House said. Suddenly, House's beeper started to go off. "I got to go" he said as he walked back inside the hospital.


	10. I'm Sorry

Love Hurts

Chapter 10 – I'm Sorry

"The biopsy was positive…he has brain cancer" Foreman said. House grabbed the paper from him and read it over. "I'll call Wilson" House said as he went over to his phone and dialed Wilson's number. "What about Christine, shouldn't she know what's going on?" Chase asked. "Yeah, what is going on?" Christine said as she walked into the conference room where everyone else was. It was silent as House hung up the phone. He looked at Christine and then looked away. He got up and handed Christine the case file. "I'm sorry" he said as Christine opened up the file. "Just tell me!" Christine said as she threw the file down on the table. "The MRI showed a large tumor on his cerebral cortex…we did a biopsy and it came back positive…Michael has brain cancer…he's dying…I'm sorry" House said to her. Christine just stood there, with tears in her eyes. House couldn't even look at her anymore. The room was silent except for the sound of Christine sobbing. Wilson had managed to enter the room unnoticed as everyone watched House and Christine. "We're making him as comfortable as possible" House said. Christine just nodded her head. "Can I see him?" she asked. "Yeah, Chase walk her to his room" House said. Chase stood right up and guided Christine out of the room and towards Michael's.

"Thanks" Christine said to Chase as she walked into Michael's room. At first she thought she was dreaming…or better yet having a nightmare. There he was, the once object of her undying affection, lying in a hospital bed, completely helpless and dying. Christine tried as hard as she could to hold back the tears but it was no use. She sat down on a stool beside his bed and just stared at him. "Oh God Michael…what happened?" Christine said out loud. "Princess" Michael barely whispered as he began to wake up. "Michael? Do you know where you are? Do you know what happened?" Christine asked as she felt a jolt of hope course through her body. "I…I don't know…it looks like a hospital" Michael said. "You electrocuted yourself…and had a couple of seizures" Christine said to him. "So when can we get out of here?" he asked her. "Mike…you're sick…and we're not together anymore…you cheated on me" Christine said. Michael just looked at her in shock. "What are you talking about? We're engaged" Michael said as he reached for Christine's hand. "Where's your ring…why aren't you wearing your ring?" Michael asked her. "Mike…you cheated on me…you don't remember?" Christine said to him. "No! No I don't and why? What are you talking about? What the hell is going on and why…why do I feel so…" Michael trailed off as he shut his eyes and fell asleep. Christine placed the now empty syringe down on the bedside table. "I'm sorry" she said as she got up and left his room.

"House" Christine said as she entered his office. He was sitting there at his desk, staring out into space. "How did it go?" House asked her. "He doesn't remember anything" Christine said to him. "I know…his short term memory is gone…his long term will go next and then eventually he'll become completely brain dead" House said. "He thought we were still together" Christine said. "What did you tell him?" House asked her. "I told him that he cheated on me and he didn't believe it…he got so worked up over it that I had to sedate him with 2 CC's of Doloprin" Christine said to him. "Nice" House said. "The next time you're with him I suggest that you don't sedate him since it could be your last time with him" House said. Christine just looked at House. She knew he was right. "I'm sorry…I just-" Christine was cut off by House. "Don't apologize to me…apologize to your soon to be dead ex-fiancée…who you drugged so he wouldn't keep talking or at least try to remember those happy times" House said. Christine just looked at House as the tears started to run down her cheeks. Why was he being so mean to her? "I have to go" Christine said as she turned to leave his office. "Christine, wait" House said. "What?" Christine asked. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to yell at you…I just…I cant fix him and it's killing me…it's like the classroom bully is hiding the last piece of the puzzle from me" House said. "Greg…it's ok…you did everything that you could…he's dying and there's no cure for that" Christine said to him. "I know" House said to her. "I think I need to be alone tonight" Christine said. House just looked at her. "Are you sure about that?" he asked her. "Yeah…I'll see you tomorrow morning" Christine said as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and left his office.

A loud knock startled Christine as she turned on a light and walked towards her door. "Chase?" Christine said as she opened the door and saw Chase standing there. "Hey, I'm sorry I didn't want to wake you" Chase said to her. "It's ok…come in" Christine said opening the door for Chase. "I hope you don't mind but I looked up your address in your personal file…you shouldn't be alone tonight" Chase said to her. "It's ok…we work for House, we're suppose to be skilled investigators too" Christine said offering Chase a glass of red wine. "Thanks, I see you're doing better" Chase said taking a sip. "Thank God for Merlot" Christine said as she raised her glass to Chase. "Cheers" Chase said as they clanged their glasses together. "So this is where you lived with him?" Chase asked her. "Yeah…after I left, he stayed here…the pile of dirty dishes that were left in the sink when I came in proved that" Christine said with a laugh. Chase laughed as well. "How did it go with Michael?" Chase asked her. "Oh lovely…he didn't remember cheating on me…his short term memory is shot" Christine said. "I'm sorry…it must've been-" Chase was cut off by Christine. "I drugged him so he'd shut up" Christine blurted out. "What did you drug him with?" Chase asked her. "Doloprin…just 2 CC's…he'll be up by the morning" Christine said. "So you sedated him" Chase said. "Yeah…how horrible of me…he's dying anyways…he should get used to it" Christine said. Chase just looked at Christine. Obviously the wine was getting to her and whatever else she drank or took prior to him getting there. "Christine, are you ok?" Chase asked her. "Of course I am! Why shouldn't I be? That son of a bitch is getting exactly what he deserves" Christine said finishing off another glass of wine. Chase watched in shock as Christine grabbed the wine bottle and Chase's hand and led him to the bedroom. "You see this bed? He had sex with another woman on this bed! On our bed!" Christine practically yelled in Chase's face. "Christine, are you high?" Chase asked her. "I am high on life" Christine answered him as she pushed him up against the wall.


	11. The Breaking Point

Love Hurts

Chapter 11 – The Breaking Point

After his conversation with Christine, House felt compelled to go and talk to Michael for himself so he did. He walked into his room and over to his IV and injected a stimulant into the line. Within seconds, Michael woke up feeling completely disorientated. "Where am I?" he asked House as he came to. "You're in Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey…do you remember anything before your accident?" House asked him. "I…remember-" Michael was cut off by House. "Do you remember cheating on your fiancée? Do you remember the look on her face when she caught you?" House asked him. Michael just stared at House. "Come on Mike…I don't have all night…I have lives to save" House said. "I remember her sitting there" Michael said as he pointed to the empty stool next to his bed. "Great and do you remember her drugging you as well?" House asked him. "What? No…what are you talking about?" Michael asked him. "Hmm…that's strange…you remember her being here in this room but you don't remember her drugging you" House said. "Christine wouldn't drug me" Michael stated. "Right…because she trusts you so much" House said to him. Michael continued to stare at House as if he was a lunatic. Right as House was about to say something, Michael spoke up. "I remember…God the look on her face…I thought I was dreaming" Michael said. "You do remember cheating on her?" House asked him. "Not that I want to but yes…yes I do…where is she?" Michael said. "Well lucky for you, she remembers it as well and she's probably home right now…or sleeping with some other guy…you never know nowadays" House said. "When can I get out of here?" Michael asked him. House let out a long sigh as he looked Michael right in his eyes. "You're dying…you have stage 4 brain cancer located in the cerebral cortex part of your brain…Christine is aware of your condition and the only thing we can do is make you as comfortable as possible" House explained to him. Michael was silent as he let everything that House said sink in. "I have brain cancer?" he asked. "Yea…you've had it for a few years…unfortunately it wasn't caught in time and now there's nothing we can do" House said. Michael was silent again. "Why did you do it?" House asked him. "Why did I do what?" Michael asked. "Why did you cheat on Christine?" House asked him. "I didn't want to but it was something I had to do…I was freaked out" Michael said. "Right…you had to sleep with someone else because it occurred to you how you were engaged and you'd only be sleeping with that one special person for the rest of…oh I don't know…your life?" House said to him. "It's true! I know I messed up and I'm sorry…so sorry" Michael said. House just looked at him and shook his head. "It's not me who you should be apologizing to" he said. Michael looked at House as he tried to sit himself up but he couldn't…he was weak and that made him even more depressed. "I'll have the Nurse in the morning start you on a Morphine drip" House said as he looked over Michael's chart. "Wait" Michael called out as House was about to leave his room. "What?" House asked. "Christine has spoken very highly of you…can you just make sure that she finds someone to take care of her when I'm gone" Michael said to him. House just stared at him and then gave him a small smile. "What makes you think that she hasn't found someone already?" House stated as he left Michael's room.

The next day Christine woke up feeling horrible. Her head was pounding and her throat was sore. She sat up in her bed and couldn't remember how she had gotten into it or anything from the night before. As she was getting out of her bed, she heard a noise coming from her kitchen. She slowly walked down the hallway and peeked her head into the kitchen only to be shocked and even more confused when she saw Dr. Robert Chase cooking what smelled like bacon and eggs. "Chase?" Christine said as she walked fully into the kitchen. "Hey, good morning Druggie" Chase greeted her. "Druggie?" Christine repeated defensively as she sat down at the table. "Anti depressants and alcohol don't mix well together" Chase said as he placed the bottle of anti depressants down in front of her. "Oh God…no wonder I feel like this" Christine said holding her head. "All you have to do is eat something and take some aspirin and you'll be fine" Chase said as he placed a big plate of food down in front of her. "Thanks…Dr. Chase" Christine said as she began to eat the food he had cooked. "So what happened last night? I don't remember anything after I left the hospital" Christine asked him. "Well…I came over here and you were already drunk and high…you said a lot of crazy things and…you tried to kiss me…" Chase said to her. "Oh My God…I'm so sorry Chase" Christine said covering her mouth with her hand; she truly didn't remember any of it. "It's ok…it was actually kind of hot…you threw me against a wall" Chase said to her with a grin. "Oh God…I'm sorry" Christine said feeling even more humiliated. "Don't worry about it…it's not every night that a beautiful woman throws me against her wall and tries to have her way with me" Chase said to her. Christine just looked at him and hid her face in utter humiliation. "You just tried to kiss me…it's no big deal…it's forgotten" Chase said to her. "Did you pull away?" she asked Chase which surprised him a bit. "Yea…I knew you were vulnerable and compromised at the same time" Chase said to her. Christine just stared at him. He was gorgeous and just an all around amazing guy but then there was House…extremely sexy and an all around complicated guy who she knew she couldn't betray. "If we ever were to kiss…I want us both to be happy and sober during it" Chase said as he looked right into her piercing green eyes. Christine smiled, not really knowing how else to handle his comment. Silence fell between the both of them as they continued to eat. "Like now?" Christine finally said. Chase just looked at her and as their faces inched closer to one another, their beepers went off.

"Go say goodbye and then we'll get started on this new case…that's if you don't want to go home for the day" House said to Christine as she went into his office as it was requested on his page to her. "Is he really doing that bad?" Christine asked him. "He's hanging on for you…well that's according to one of the Nurses but you know them, they lie…everybody lies" House said to her. Christine just looked at House. He looked up from his desk and his eyes met with hers. "Just let him know its ok…once you do that-" House was cut off by Christine. "I know how it is…I am a Doctor you know" Christine said to him. House just nodded his head. He didn't know what else to say to her. "Say goodbye and then let me know if you want to stay for the day" House said. "Ok" Christine said as she went to leave the room but House stopped her. "Christine, wait" he said as he got up from his desk. "After you left last night…I spoke to Michael…he knows he's dying…and…he asked me something" House said as he limped towards her without using his cane. Christine's eyes were already tearing and House couldn't bear to look at them so he spoke mainly to the floor. "He asked me to make sure that after he's gone…you'll find someone and move on" House said. Christine was silent for a few seconds, it definitely sounded like something Michael would say. "So what did you say?" Christine said as the tears started to stream down her freshly made up face. "I said…that I would help you find someone" House said but this time to her face. Christine just stared at him, she didn't know where this was about to go. "How do you really feel about…Chase?" House asked her hesitantly. Christine's eyes grew wider; House noticed and silently cursed himself for even opening up his mouth. "The last time I checked…it wasn't Chase who I woke up next to for the past few weeks…it was you House" Christine said as she again tried to leave his office. "What do you want from me? I'm old, crippled and mean…I can't give you what you want…I can't even take care of myself" House said to her. "What makes you think that you know what I want?" Christine said back to him and then left his office for good.


	12. It's Not Her Fault

Love Hurts

Chapter 12 – It's Not Your Fault

Christine walked slowly down the hallway towards Michael's room. She felt terrible and hopeful that maybe House would appear any minute by her side to help her through this but she knew he wasn't like that. She stopped when she saw Michael's family and mutual friends come out of his room with tissues attached to their faces. Christine contemplated going up to them and saying something comforting but she couldn't. They knew about the affair and were heartbroken over everything that had happened. Especially Michael's brother, Anthony, who looked at Christine like a little sister and couldn't wait to have her finally be apart of the family.

Once everyone had left, Christine continued towards his room. She slid open the door and walked in. "Oh Michael" she said as the tears started to trickle down her cheeks. "Princess…you came back" Michael could barely say. "Shhh…don't talk…its ok Michael…I forgive you" Christine said to him. "I'm dying" Michael somewhat whispered. "I know" Christine said as she held on to his hand. "It's ok…everything is going to be alright" Christine said. Michael just looked at her and tried to smile. "I want you to be happy" Michael managed to say. "I know" Christine said as more and more tears started to fall. "Don't cry…I'm sorry and I love you…I always have…and I always will" Michael said to her. Christine just looked at him and fell apart. "I love you too, Michael…I always will" she said back to him. He smiled and she bent down and gave him one last kiss on the lips. After that, she had to go…she knew now that it was only a matter of time.

Out in the corridor she pulled herself together the best that she could. As she was walking she didn't even realize Dr. Wilson calling to her from behind. "Dr. Massina…I'm so sorry…I'm sure House has-" Wilson was cut off by Christine. "I know everything" she said to him. "I'm sorry…we caught it too late" Wilson said. "I know…I know…what kind of Doctor am I?" Christine said sarcastically. "Don't blame yourself for this…there was no way of you knowing that he had brain cancer" Wilson said to her. "Right…there was no way for me to see that my soon to be husband was practically dying each day right in front of my face" Christine said. Wilson just looked at her and shook his head. "Without an MRI machine there was no way of you knowing…brain cancer has no prerequisite symptoms" Wilson explained to her. Christine just looked at him and shook her head now. "I could've helped him" Christine said as she walked away from Wilson.

Christine sat in the Hospital Chapel for what seemed like hours. No one else was in there so she was able to really cry and get everything out finally. As she cried she thought about everything…from the night they first met to their first kiss and last kiss. Her thoughts were interrupted by a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and her now red and puffy eyes met with House's disappointed stare. "I'm sorry…he's gone" House said to her. Christine didn't care as she went hysterical in front of House. House watched her fall apart and as he was about to say something, he stopped himself…that wasn't what she needed right now. Instead he put his cane to the side and bent down next to Christine who was now curled up in a ball on the Chapel floor. "I'm sorry" he said as he placed his hand on her back and rubbed it. All you could hear was the sound of Christine's uncontrollable sobbing. "It's not your fault" House said causing Christine to cry even harder. House, who was now sitting on the floor next to her, grabbed her and pulled her into his lap. "None of this is your fault" he said to her again as he held her in his arms. Christine held on to him for dear life as she felt as if her tears were about to run out.


	13. The Next Two Weeks Part I

Okay so after a couple years, I'm back! I got really inspired since watching all the House re-runs and I miss this show terribly, plus my friend wouldn't stop begging me to continue this story haha so here it is, the continuation of "Love Hurts." Also, these next two chapters were written years ago but I never got around to posting them so unfortunately there both in this jumbled format whereas the most recent chapters won't be. The dialogue will be separated from now on.

Chapter 13 – The Next Two Weeks

You could most definitely hear a pin drop in the deafening silence that was engulfing House's office. The white board had a huge question mark written on it as House, Foreman and Chase sat around the glass table, thinking about the tragic event that had taken place two weeks ago that day.

Since Michael, Dr. Messina's ex-fiancée had suddenly passed away due to inoperable brain cancer, House, Foreman and Chase found themselves in a bit of a rut. There weren't any cases to be solved so each day would be spent in silence or doing mediocre work in the Clinic or Laboratory.

Christine was still out on bereavement and no one, not even House had heard from her. Each night House would go home to an empty apartment and bed and part of him wondered what he should do. Should he pay her a visit? Should he call her? Should he get Foreman or Chase to check on her and threaten their jobs if they say no?

Suddenly the phone in the middle of the table started to ring, everyone reached for it hoping it was Christine on the other end. "You both have the reflexes of a sloth" House said as he triumphantly snatched the phone away before they both could get to it.

"House" House said as he held the phone to his ear. He listened for a few seconds before he heard the dial tone. He hung up the phone and shook his head in disappointment. "I told them to cancel my Playboy subscription" he lied as he went to get up from the chair he felt he had been sitting in for too long that day.

"This is ridiculous, one of us has to see what's going on with Christine…she's been out for two weeks now, she should've been back last week" Chase finally spoke up. "Chase, her fiancée just died…she should be able to have all the time she needs to cope with everything" Foreman answered him. "I actually agree with Dr. Obvious…her EX-fiancée is dead so she's entitled to the extra week off without pay" House said as he exited his office.

House barged right into Wilson's office as Wilson was on the phone with what House could only assume was either a patient or a patient's overly annoying family member. House plopped down on the chair in front of Wilson's desk as he impatiently tapped his cane on top of Wilson's desk.

"What do you want, House?" Wilson asked sounding frustrated as he hung up the phone. "Dr. Messina hasn't come back to work" House said to him. "Ok…has anyone tried to call her and see how she's doing?" Wilson asked him. House just looked at Wilson and hung his head in what Wilson could only imagine was shame.

"I was actually thinking about sending Dumb and Dumber over to her place and if they said no, I'd fire them" House explained to Wilson. "Do you even know where she's staying?" Wilson asked him, ignoring his stupid idea. "No…see my beds been kind of empty for the past two weeks" House answered him sarcastically. Wilson just looked at House and shook his head in disappointment.

"Well I think since you're the one she's apparently the closest to…you should go and find her" Wilson said to him. House just stared blankly at Wilson as his mind replayed his exact words. "You think that's what she really wants?" House asked him. "Yes, it's what she wants and needs…she needs people around her for support and comfort…she needs to feel that security and unfortunately she feels it from you" Wilson explained to him.

House let his lips form into a small smile as he grabbed his cane and stood up from the chair. "The last time I checked having wildly passionate sex with your boss doesn't make you feel secure…it makes you feel immortal" House said as he left Wilson's office with that small smile still lingering on his lips.


	14. The Next Two Weeks Part II

Chapter 14 – The Next Two Weeks Part II

After House's talk with Wilson, House decided to actually listen to his best friend for once and go check on Dr. Messina. He felt a little uneasy doing so but it wasn't for the reason you may think.

House arrived at the address of the nearby loft that Christine and Michael did share. He looked up at a window and saw the light was still on and part of him thought he was dreaming when he heard the unremarkable voice of Eddie Van Halen singing the timeless _Stairway to Heaven. _

Feeling even more curious than before, he rang the doorbell and waited patiently until the door swung open. House's eyes darted upward as he took in Christine's obvious disheveled appearance. She stood before him wearing ripped jeans and a revealing black tank top, her hair was thrown in a messy bun on top of her head and her face was makeup less with eyes that still held certain puffiness to them.

"Wow" was all House could say to her as he looked her up and down again. "What are you doing here?" Christine asked him. "Aren't you going to invite me in? I'd like to be a part of this alcohol and drug party too" House said to her. "Excuse me? For your information I'm not on any drugs or drinking myself to sleep every night…I enjoy Van Halen and I'm home so there's no reason to get dressed up" Christine explained to him.

"Sure, now if that's not the Xanex talking then I don't know what it is" House said as he made his way inside. Christine shut the door behind him and then watched as he looked around her living room. He threw his cane down on the couch as he hobbled over to her stereo and turned it off.

"Not a good choice for a mourning song" he said to her. Christine just looked at him as she walked over to where he was standing. He was looking at a photo of her and Michael taken at what looked like a fancy restaurant. "That was the night he proposed to me…it was just us…at our favorite New York City restaurant…it was like a scene from a movie…prefect" she said to him. House just looked at her and then back at the photo.

"Why haven't you come back to work?" he asked her. "Well incase you haven't noticed I am still-" House cut Christine off. "Yeah, yeah I get it…you're a grieving widow…well technically you weren't married so you're not a widow…you're a good doctor that needs to come back to work and move on…stop blaming yourself for this, there is no way you could've known…the cancer was asymptomatic so it was just a matter of time and an abnormal PET Scan" House said to her.

Christine just glared at House, she felt angry, upset and confused as to why he was even saying these things to her. "Why are you here?" she asked him again. "I wanted to make sure you were ok" he answered her avoiding eye contact which is something he did whenever he felt he was getting a little too real.

"I'm fine" she answered him. "No you're not…you're still staying here, you still have photos of him up and your eyes are still puffy which means you've been crying a lot and the scent of tequila on your breath and in the air means that you have been drinking yourself to sleep" House said to her.

Christine stared at House in shock and she realized there was no way she could keep anything from him anymore. "You're right…I'm a mess…I stay here, get drunk and pass out in a pool of my own tears" Christine admitted to him. House just looked at her and felt the sudden urge to hold her in his arms but didn't think that would be the best option right now so instead he just stood there and watched her breakdown again.

"I blame myself every second of the day…how could I have been so blind? I'm a Doctor for God sake! I'm a Doctor who couldn't see what was coming…I don't deserve this…I can't do it anymore…so consider this my resignation" Christine said to House.

"Christine, don't do this…stop blaming yourself! We're Doctors, not Physics…if it wasn't for Michael electrocuting himself, we would have never found the cancer…you have to pull yourself together and come back to work…we need you" House said to her.

Christine looked up at House as she let the tears fall from her eyes. "I miss you" she said to him. House just looked at her and then back down at the floor. "I miss you too" he said still looking down. Christine smiled and stepped closer to him until she was inches away from him. He looked up at her and their eyes met. "You know this is just the alcohol and anti-depressants talking, right?" he said to her trying to make light of the intense moment.

Christine shook her head as she reached her hands up and ran her fingers over the buttons of House's shirt. "Even before this happened, you and I had something going on and now that this happened, I still think about it…I think about you and what you're doing…if you're thinking about me or us" Christine said to him.

House closed his eyes as he tried to compute everything that was going on in his mind. His arms reached out and wrapped around Christine's waist as he pulled her closer to him. "Do you think about me?" she asked in almost a whisper. House looked at her and could feel his heart start to pound as she slowly undid the first three buttons of his shirt.

"I really do miss you…I miss waking up next to you and hearing that sexy groan whenever our beepers would go off while we were in the middle of something" Christine said as her lips got dangerously close to his. House knew he wasn't going to be able to last much longer. The affect she had on him was something he hadn't felt since he was a teenager and he missed that feeling, he missed Christine but he didn't know how to tell her so he decided to show her instead.

He passionately crashed his lips against hers and kissed her with as much feeling as he possibly could. Christine's hands massaged the back of his head as their tongues danced sensually in each others mouths.

"Make love to me, Greg" Christine whispered to him once they finally pulled apart for air.

House gave her that irresistible sexy smirk of his as they kissed again and managed to fumble their way to the bedroom.


	15. It Hurts So Good Part I

Chapter 15 – It Hurts So Good Part I

"It's got to be auto immune" Chase said to Foreman as he realized he had downed his entire coffee within less then two minutes.

"Doesn't explain it, the blood work would've shown it" Foreman responded back as he thumbed through the new patient file they had both been staring at since they got to work this morning.

"It's almost ten o'clock, where's House?" Chase asked as he reclined back in his chair, looking almost happy that House wasn't looming over them, brow beating crazy diagnosis's out of them until something made sense to him.

"Who knows? Probably harassing Wilson for an Egg McMuffin or causing some kind of morning havoc in the clinic" Foreman said as he shut the file and reclined back in his chair as well.

"I was thinking about going over to Christine's place later on…just to check on her and see how she's doing" Chase said to him.

Foreman just looked at Chase, shook his head and let out a laugh.

"What? It's going to be three weeks that she's been out and it seems like no one else could give a damn" Chase said.

"She just lost her soon to be husband and she most likely is blaming herself for it, do you think she really wants to be bothered right now?" Foreman explained, hoping he'd get through to Chase.

"I'm not bothering her, I just don't want her to be alone…especially if she is blaming herself…that's not right" Chase said looking Foreman right in the eyes.

"This is going to be Cameron all over again" Foreman said as he got up to get himself another cup of coffee.

"No it wont be, Christine is nothing like Cameron…nor does she have some bizarre crush on House so comparing them is completely unfair" Chase responded.

"Look, I just don't want to see you get hurt again…she's going to need time, a lot of time…she's not going to just jump in bed with you because she's vulnerable right now" Foreman said.

Before Chase could respond to him, Christine came trotting into the office…surprising both of them.

"Christine! You're back, how are you?" Chase said as he immediately stood up from his chair and went over to her.

"I'm doing good, thanks for asking" Christine said as she gave Chase an unexpected hug.

"Glad to have you back" Foreman said as he watched Christine and Chase still in an embrace.

"Thanks Foreman, I missed you guys" Christine said as she and Chase finally parted and she hugged Foreman.

"Aw, isn't this cute" House said as he limped into the room.

"Welcome back Dr. Messina…now who can tell me what presents as auto immune but isn't according to some idiotic blood work?" House said as he started writing down some ideas on his whiteboard.

"We should check his heart for clots and then repeat the blood work, if it is auto immune it could be hiding" Christine spoke up as everyone took their normal seats around the table.

"Good one, except the Echo that was done in the ER showed no clots" House answered her as he absentmindedly placed a cup of coffee down in front of Christine causing both Chase and Foreman to exchange confused glances.

"Do a CT Scan to check for clots in the brain, would explain the dizziness and sudden rage" Chase said.

"Ok then do an angiogram, just to make sure those clumsy ER doctors didn't miss something bad" House said as everyone stood up and left the room.

"Dr. Messina…one minute" House said as he watched her following Chase out the door.

Christine turned back around and smirked as she re-entered House's office, already precipitating some kind of romantic gesture in her mind.

"I want you to re-run his blood and stay away from Chase…he's what you call a man whore" House said to her.

"Chase and I are just friends, we've been through this before…you've got to stop being so insecure…you're the only man whore I'm after" Christine said as she seductively backed House up against his desk.

"Ow, damn" House said as he grabbed on to his leg.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" Christine asked sounding concerned as she backed away from him.

"The pain has been worse for the past month or so…you know it's kind of hard keeping up with a young sexy Italiana when you're a cripple" House said to her sounding almost upset.

"Greg, stop…I don't look at you like that and you know that…stop being so negative…if anything we'll just take it a little slower" she said as she almost whispered the last part of her sentence into his ear.

"That's no fun" House said as he placed his hands on her ass and squeezed. Christine smiled and they kissed.

"Let's go out to dinner tonight…I feel like getting all dressed up for the first time in what feels like a while" Christine said to him.

"Sure…I'll pick you up around eight" House said to her.

Christine smiled as she placed a chaste kiss on his lips and trotted out of his office. House watched through the glass windows as she disappeared down the hall way. His leg pain was unbearable as he hobbled over to retrieve his cane; he took his usual dose of Vicodin and immediately felt the need to talk to Wilson.


	16. It Hurts So Good Part II

Chapter 16 – It Hurts So Good Part II

House barged right into Wilson's office just like he always would. Wilson was on the phone with a patient offering his condolences as House started to annoyingly tap his cane on his desk. Wilson hung up the phone and looked up at House as he shook his head and let out a laugh.

"Let me guess…you're here because you either want my advice or you want to prove me wrong" Wilson said to him.

"Gee, those Cancer patients really do give you that much clarity, huh?" House answered him in his usual sarcastic manner.

"What's going on with you and Christine now?" Wilson asked him knowing damn well that's exactly what he wanted to talk about.

"Hot and heavy as usual…my leg is suffering, but it's a good kind of hurt if ya know what I mean" House said with a wink.

"Ok…and the problem is?" Wilson asked sounding confused.

"I don't know what I'm doing anymore…it's like she's gotten into my head, I can't think clearly…I can't diagnose…I can't even argue with her" House explained to his still thoroughly confused friend.

"That's what happens when you like someone, House…it's not abnormal to hear violins playing when they enter a room or feel a flash of heat when they touch you, it's exciting and it's actually a very good thing" Wilson said to him.

"She's changing me…and I don't like it…I don't want to be changed" House said.

"She's changing you for the better! Why can't you see that? Why do you have to question every single thing? The woman is supposed to do that, not the man" Wilson replied.

"Good things don't happen to me and anyone who gets close to me ends up getting hurt, I don't want to hurt her…I promised her dead fiancée I'd look out for her and make sure she'd find someone to take care of her and I cant do it, I cant be that guy for her" House said sounding upset.

"So then end it, House…what do you want me to say here? You obviously have some kind of fear holding you back and if you really think that you cant be with her then don't be" Wilson said to him.

"That's it? That's your advice? Break it off and just go on like it never happened?" House questioned him.

"That's what you're going to do anyway because you can't commit to anyone, let alone a woman who just lost her fiancée" Wilson answered him.

"He was a coward, he didn't deserve her…and neither do I" House said as he left Wilson's office and contemplated exactly how he was going to handle this with Christine.

The rest of the day seemed to have flown by. House stayed in his office for most of the day, just staring out into space, tossing his ball around and trying to figure out what he was going to say. He hadn't seen Christine since her, Chase and Foreman delivered the patients CT Scan and Angiogram results to him about an hour ago. Suddenly he got an idea; he grabbed his cane and left his office.

House wondered into the Doctors locker room where he found Chase gathering his things and getting ready to leave for the night.

"He's stable, Foreman is re-doing the labs just to make sure we didn't miss anything" Chase said as he shut his locker and looked at House who was standing next to him.

"Good, if he lives through the night we were right" House said to him.

"Good night" Chase said as he went to walk around House but he was stopped.

"I have to talk to you about something" House said to him.

"What is it?" Chase asked him curiously.

"How do you feel about Dr. Messina?" House asked him.

"I think she's great…she's a great asset to the team and a wonderful doctor" Chase replied sounding a bit hesitant as to why House was asking him about Christine.

"She is great…and that ass? Wow" House responded.

Chase just looked at House as if he was crazy.

"Right…" Chase said as he went to walk away again but House stopped him.

"I think you should ask her out" House blurted out.

"What? Me? Why?" Chase asked sounding utterly confused now.

"She needs someone…her fiancée is dead…she's all alone and I see the way you look at her, you like her and I think she likes you too" House said to him.

Chase just stared at House in shock; never did he ever think he'd hear anything like that coming out of House's mouth.

"I'm giving her time, I think she's going to need it" Chase finally answered him.

"Trust me, she doesn't" House mumbled.

Chase just looked at him again, this time more warily.

"How would you know that?" Chase asked him.

"We've been sleeping together since she found out her fiancée had cheated on her" House stated as he looked Chase dead in his now big bright blue eyes.

"You what?" Chase basically yelled in his face.

"Do you really need me to repeat it? I'd give you details but I'm sure you'll find out for yourself" House replied.

"I can't believe this! You? You and Christine? This has got to be a joke, there's no way she'd-" Chase was cut off by House.

"No way she'd want to be with a cripple? Well let's just say my leg hasn't been in this much pain since-" House was cut off abruptly by Chase.

"Stop! I don't want to hear this! I don't care, I hope you two are very happy together" Chase was now shouting at House.

"The only reason I told you is because I cant be with her, she needs to be with someone like you…someone who can take care of her and won't hurt her…you'd be perfect for her" House shouted back at him.

Chase just looked at House in amazement. He was beyond shocked and even a little sick to stomach as he envisioned Christine and House together.

"You can't be with her so you want her to be with me? Why were you with her in the first place?" Chase asked him sounding a little calmer now.

"I didn't think it was going to go as far as it did…I mean the sex was great, mind blowing but she wants more and I just cant do that for her right now" House explained to him.

"So you're passing her on to me? She's not some kind of pawn in your sick game, she's a human being with a heart and if it god help her does want to be with you then I cant be involved in that" Chase said to him.

House just looked at Chase and shook his head in disbelief.

"She likes you and you know that…I see the way you are together and it's sickening but it's what she needs right now…she doesn't need some mean old cripple" House said.

Chase's glare softened towards House as his words repeated over in his mind.

"Have you even told her any of this yet? Or you're just going to act like you don't care and ignore a team member that you will have to see and work with every day?" Chase asked him.

"I will tell her and it wont affect the team…she'll be fine, she's a strong woman, trust me" House said with a wink.

"She's going to hate you" Chase said to him.

"I know but she'll get over it just like Cameron did" House answered him.

Chase just glared at House; he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Part of him wanted to smack House and then part of him wanted to smack Foreman for calling it like he did…this was almost exactly like Dr. Cameron all over again.


	17. Dirty Work

Chapter 17 – Dirty Work

Christine stood in front of her mirror, staring at the reflection in front of her. She looked great, the black cocktail dress she was wearing was perfect and clung to her body as if it was a glove. Her long black hair looked romantic with soft curls throughout it. She smiled in satisfaction; she hadn't worn this dress since Mike had proposed to her. She finished applying some lip gloss and then went back into her kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine as she eyed the clock.

"Eight ten" she said out loud thinking that House must still be in the office, racking his brilliant mind with possible diagnosis's for their patient.

She looked down at her phone after she took a huge sip of her wine. Not one missed call or text but she wasn't worried, she knew he'd just show up but he wasn't very predictable at times which is what she liked about him.

As she stood there, leaning against her kitchen counter, pouring another glass of wine…her mind started to wonder.

"So what happened last night? I don't remember anything after I left the hospital" Christine asked Chase.

"Well…I came over here and you were already drunk and high…you said a lot of crazy things and…you tried to kiss me…" Chase said to her.

"Oh My God…I'm so sorry Chase" Christine said covering her mouth with her hand; she truly didn't remember any of it.

"It's ok…it was actually kind of hot…you threw me against a wall" Chase said to her with a grin.

"Oh God…I'm sorry" Christine said feeling even more humiliated.

"Don't worry about it…it's not every night that a beautiful woman throws me against her wall and tries to have her way with me" Chase said to her.

Christine just looked at him and hid her face in utter humiliation.

"You just tried to kiss me…it's no big deal…it's forgotten" Chase said to her.

"Did you pull away?" she asked Chase which surprised him a bit.

"Yea…I knew you were vulnerable and compromised at the same time" Chase said to her.

Christine just stared at him. He was gorgeous and just an all around amazing guy but then there was House…extremely sexy and an all around complicated guy who she knew she couldn't betray.

"If we ever were to kiss…I want us both to be happy and sober during it" Chase said as he looked right into her piercing dark eyes.

Christine smiled, not really knowing how else to handle his comment. Silence fell between the both of them as they continued to eat.

"Like now?" Christine finally said.

Chase just looked at her and as their faces inched closer to one another, their beepers went off.

Christine was brought out of her sudden flashback by the abrupt knocking coming from her door. She finished the rest of her wine in one gulp, she was beyond confused as to why she'd even be thinking about Chase right now and how amazing he was to her that night but she quickly shook it off as she took one last look in the mirror before she swung open the door.

"Chase?" Christine said sounding completely shocked as she looked up into his perfect blue eyes.

"You look amazing; can I come in for a minute?" Chase said as he looked her up and down and tried to not lose his focus as to why he was even there right now.

"Well…I'm kind of waiting for someone…is this about the case?" Christine answered him sounding seriously confused.

"No it's not and I really need to talk to you…it can't wait" Chase replied sounding serious.

Christine just nodded her head and let Chase in, she was more curious then anything.

"You have a date tonight?" he asked her knowing exactly who she was waiting on.

"Uh yeah…kind of" she said to him.

"Look, I don't really know how to say this but I'm just going to come out and say it" Chase said.

Christine just looked at him; her confusion was at an all time high now.

"House is an ass" Chase stated.

"I know that" Christine said with a laugh feeling a bit relieved that this was going to be a House bashing visit and nothing else.

"I'm serious, he's an ass…he's incapable of loving anyone more then himself and anyone who does get close to him usually will get hurt" Chase continued to explain to her.

Christine could feel her eyes bulging, obviously Chase knew about what was going on between her and House and she couldn't help but feel angry about it.

"What are you getting at? If you know something then just say it, don't act like a friend and try to give me advice about a topic that you're no genius in either" Christine snapped at him.

"I am your friend and that's why I'm here right now and he's not…he can't be with you, Christine…he's not ready for it" Chase snapped back at her.

Christine was now glaring at Chase, her fists were balled up against her sides and her breathing became heavier with every word she was yelling at him.

"How do you know this? How would you possibly know how Greg feels about me? He does care about me and he does want to be with me…I know he's different but it's what I love about him, I can help him and show him that I would never hurt him…ever" Christine continued to shout at Chase.

"Help him? Are you insane? There is no helping Greg or whatever, he's helpless…he wants to be alone, he could never give you what you need…he's not even here right now explaining this to you himself which proves what an ass he truly is" Chase shouted back.

Christine continued to glare at him; part of her knew he was right. House wasn't there; he had apparently stood her up because he couldn't face her so he decided to send Chase to do his dirty work for him. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes as she sat down on her couch and reached for the wine bottle.

"This isn't going to help you" Chase said as he took the bottle away from her and sat down next to her.

"Don't tell me what to do" Christine snapped at him as she grabbed the bottle out of his grasp and downed the rest of the wine that was left inside of it.

Chase shook his head; he couldn't help but think back to his Mother and how she used to do the same thing every single day and night in front of him.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come here" he said as he stood up from the couch.

"Why did you?" Christine finally spoke up as he went to walk towards the door.

Chase stopped and turned around to face her, she was now coming towards him and she didn't look as angry as she did before.

"He told me before I left the hospital…he told me everything and I'm very sorry…I'm sorry that you had to deal with him" Chase answered her.

"He told you everything?" she questioned him.

Chase took a deep breath and then let it out as he told Christine House's exact words. He couldn't look at Christine anymore, her tear stained face was heart breaking and it took everything in him to not go and find House and cripple his other leg.

"He never cared" she said sounding as if she had just realized it herself.

"He can't care…that's just the way he is…he's going to end up alone due to his own selfishness…he deserves it" Chase said to her.

"What did he ever do to you? Besides make your life a living hell at work every day…what did he do?" Christine asked him.

Chase just looked at Christine then down at the floor, he  
didn't want to talk about Cameron…he didn't want to remember her and what she had put him through.

"I was with this girl, another doctor we worked with…you're actually her replacement, she was on the team and her and I started dating, she told me she had had a thing for House but I didn't think anything of it…until she acted on it" Chase explained to her.

"So she screwed up, she acted on it" Christine said back to him.

"Not exactly…House knew we were together but he didn't care, he knew exactly how to manipulate her into doing whatever he wanted and making me miserable along the way" Chase said.

"So what happened?" Christine asked him.

Chase took another deep breath as he continued the story.

"She cheated on me with him, she loved him more then she could ever love me…she was obsessed with him and he loved every minute of it" Chase answered her.

Christine just looked at Chase, he looked hurt and she couldn't help but feel bad for him.

"But that's all over with now, I just don't want to see him manipulate you too…we unfortunately have to work with him and I'll never forgive him for what he did but I've moved on" Chase said to her.

Christine just stared at him; she didn't know what else she should say to him. She felt a mixture of emotions and it wasn't due to the wine, she was legitimately hurt and angry and wanted a full explanation from House before she would have to face him tomorrow at work.

"I'm going to go now, have a good night" Chase said as he went to leave yet again.

"Wait, I'm sorry…I'm sorry for flipping out on you, you're right about everything and I just feel so stupid that I was so naïve to all of this" Christine said to him as she felt the tears start to pool inside her eyes again.

"You're not stupid, you tried to love someone who just couldn't return the favor…I know how that is and we're not stupid for believing in love…it's out there, I know it is" Chase said as he realized that he now had his hands placed on her shoulders.

Christine didn't move, she just stood there…staring deeply into his eyes causing him to wipe a small tear away from her cheek.

"You're right" was all she could say to him, never breaking her intense gaze on him.

All of sudden her cell phone rang, startling both of them.

She walked over to it and saw it was House calling and soon the anger came over her again.

"It's him, isn't it?" Chase asked her.

"Who cares? I'm not wasting a perfectly good night or this dress…let's hit a bar" Christine said as she walked back over to her mirror and started to fix herself up.

Chase just watched her as he carefully rationalized what was going on in his head. He knew this probably wasn't going to be the best idea but he couldn't leave her, he didn't want to…he wanted to ask her out, he wanted to finally kiss her and tell her she'd be ok but he couldn't do it…not yet, she would need more time now but he didn't want to wait…he wanted it to be different this time, he wanted her to be with him because she genuinely wanted to be.

"Sounds good to me" Chase finally said as he realized Christine was now standing right in front of him, looking as perfect as she did when he first showed up.


	18. Confrontation

Chapter 18 – Confrontation

House threw his cell phone down on to the table in frustration. Christine hadn't answered any of his calls for the past 15 minutes. He sat on his couch, staring blankly out and wondering if he had made the right decision. Was Wilson right? Was he actually wrong? Was he just scared? Suddenly he was brought out of his daze by a loud knock coming from his door.

"I'm surprised you're still alive" Wilson said as he looked up at his disheveled looking friend.

House didn't say anything as he let Wilson into his apartment and reclaimed his place on his couch.

"Have you even heard from her yet?" Wilson asked him.

"She's not answering any of my calls" House replied.

Wilson just stared at him sympathetically as he searched his mind for the right thing to say.

"Do you think she knows?" Wilson asked.

"I'm sure her and Chase are getting along just fine" House answered him.

"Chase? Oh God, House…don't tell me that you told Chase about this and somehow convinced him to do your dirty work for you?" Wilson questioned him, hoping he had heard him wrong.

"She's better off" House replied gulping down the last remains in his glass of Bourbon.

"You're insane! How could you have done that? She is going to kill you when she does see you, IF she ever sees you again…she's probably going to quit and-" Wilson was cut off by House.

"I had no other choice" House snapped at him.

"I can't be with her, I can't be who she needs right now" he continued.

Wilson just stared in amazement at him; he had no other words to say. Part of him felt bad for House but mostly for Christine and even a little for Chase.

"I'm out of Bourbon, you coming?" House asked as he hobbled over to his coat and put it on.

"Why not?" Wilson said sounding defeated as he followed House out of his apartment.

"Give me a glass of your finest Pinot Grigio and my friend here will have?" Christine practically shouted in the bartenders face as she looked back at Chase, awaiting his drink request.

"Beer, any kind" Chase replied.

Christine just looked at him strangely as she handed him his beer and she took a huge sip of her wine.

"This place is loud" Christine shouted over the blaring music that was being played throughout the crowded bar she had managed to get Chase to come with her to.

"What?" Chase said since he couldn't hear anything at the moment.

Christine grabbed his hand unexpectedly and led him over to an empty booth in the corner of the bar that was away from everyone else.

"So much better" she said as she slid in next to him, taking another huge gulp of her wine.

"You might want to slow down a bit, isn't that like a bottle and a half for you now?" he asked noticing how fast she was drinking.

"You shush, I'm an adult…I know my limitation" she answered him as she finished off her glass.

Chase decided not to say anything else as he watched her intently make her way back over to the bar for a refill.

"Beer is lame, you have got to try this" Christine said as she placed another drink down in front of Chase.

"What is it?" he asked as he looked down, picked it up and smelled it.

"It's a concoction I made up during my party girl days, try it! You'll love it, trust me" she answered him with an involuntarily seductive smile.

Chase couldn't help it, she had him right where she wanted him or so he had hoped she was intentionally trying to get him drunk. He smiled at her and took a big swig of the drink; he swished it around in his mouth wanting to figure out exactly what was in it although he definitely wasn't a huge alcohol connoisseur.

"It's actually delicious, is that whiskey and-" Chase was cut off by Christine placing her finger gently against his lips.

"I'll never tell" she said to him with that same seductive smile.

Chase smiled back at her as he relaxed himself in the booth; maybe this wasn't going to be so bad? Maybe she did wanna be with him and realized what a coward House really was. Unfortunately, Chase's thoughts were interrupted by a view that made him wanna grab Christine and whisk her away and out of the bar like a superhero would do.

"Hey, do you wanna check out another bar that's less crowded?" Chase asked her abruptly.

"Yeah sure, let me just finish this one" Christine answered him.

Chase looked down at the almost fully filled wine glass in front of her, he glanced back over at the bar and sure enough there was House and Wilson sitting down and drinking. Wilson was talking away as House just sat there, drinking and looking anywhere else rather then at Wilson. Chase could sense an altercation right away so he panicked and downed the rest of Christine's wine.

"What the hell?" she said with a laugh.

"You're right, that is good" Chase said wiping his mouth as he grabbed Christine's arm and led her out of the booth.

"Whoa…hold on a second…I have to close my tab" Christine said as she yanked herself away from him and sauntered her way through the crowd and over to the bar right where House and Wilson were still sitting.

"Wait, let's go over here" Chase said as he grabbed her hand and unknowingly pushed her up against a wall, all in an effort to keep her hidden.

"Chase, wow…I didn't know you were like this" Christine said sounding surprised as she looked up into his gorgeous blue eyes.

Chase smiled at her and she smiled back, their faces were mere inches apart and he knew exactly what he wanted to do to her. He almost teasingly inched his face more towards her, he felt lost in her dark eyes…he wanted her more than anything at that moment and the fact that they were in a crowded, loud bar wasn't going to stop him.

"You don't know a lot about me" he playfully answered her.

She could feel his hot breath against her face and inhaled the scent of his amazing cologne. She felt intoxicated in more ways then one as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him dangerously closer to herself.

"I knew you were into PDA" Houses voice echoed in both of their ears.

Chase jumped back from Christine, turning around to see House standing right behind them, leaning against his cane and wearing his usual 'I told you so' infamous smirk.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Christine snapped at him as she pushed past Chase and stood right in front of House.

"Booze are cheap and so are the women" House replied looking down at her.

Suddenly, Christine smacked House right in the face, Chase just stood there in shock…next to Wilson who had now joined the viewing party as well.

"You're disgusting, you're a coward…a liar and I never want to see you again" Christine shouted at him.

House just looked at her as he continued to rub his sore cheek, he felt bad but also angry and justified since he now had proof that he was right about her and Chase.

"Fine…you're fired and so is your new boy toy" House said as he simply turned around and hobbled away from her.

Christine just stood there in shock, until Chase decided to finally speak up.

"You can't fire us, this is all your fault" Chase yelled at him, stopping him in his tracks.

House took a few seconds to gather his thoughts as he turned back around to face Chase.

"She doesn't want to see me ever again and I honestly don't want to see you ever again so it's only fair" he responded.

"How is it fair? How is everything that you've done to this poor girl, fair?" Chase said stepping right up to House.

House just looked at Chase, then Christine and then to the ground. He knew he was wrong but not fully.

"She's better off with you and as I can see you've obviously wasted no time moving on to Captain America here" House said as he looked back over at Christine.

"I haven't moved on, you idiot…I just found out about this…you sent Chase to break up with me because you couldn't face me yourself because you know damn well you do want to be with me but you're just scared…scared of anyone who can love you or actually wanted to" Christine replied as she turned to Wilson for confirmation.

"I'd rather not be involved in this" Wilson said with his hands up.

"He knows nothing, have a good night and you're both still fired" House said as he motioned for Wilson to follow him.

"So that's it? You're firing me because you can't love me and you're firing Chase, who you want me to be with because you think there's something going on between us?" Christine questioned him.

House just stared at her; he had too many emotions and Bourbon going through him to deal with any of this.

"Answer me, you at least owe me that much" Christine continued.

"I don't owe you anything, have a nice life" House finally answered her as he and Wilson left the bar.

"He really is a cold hearted bastard" Christine said as she just stood there, staring blankly ahead.

"I always knew he was" Chase said, not knowing what else he should say at that point.

"I wanna go home, I'm sorry…I'm sorry you're involved in this" Christine said to him.

"It's fine, don't be…I just can't handle seeing you so upset over House no less" Chase answered her.

Christine gave him a small smile and an awkward half hug as she left him standing alone in the bar.


End file.
